Magical Lullaby
by 0-PrincessGiselle-0
Summary: I.AM.ALIVE. I have also changed my penname from apzella. This is a short, lovely somewhat 003centric fic written a long time ago and many thanks to Shadow of Astarael for making me type it up. So read, enjoy and please review. Giselle


DISCLAIMER: You don't need me to tell you that I don't own these characters. You all can figure it out on your own. 

**A/N: **I.AM.ALIVE. APOLOGIES FOR MY REALLY LONG ABSENCE. I have been very busy, I have not had Internet for a while, and I had exams in May and I have more coming up. (No, I have not forgotten about you all:) This fic is for all my readers, but especially for Shadow of Astarael, who PMed me and got me to actually type this up. This story has been languishing in a copybook in a folder (some of the pen marks have actually faded O.O) waiting for me to type it. So here it is, and though it might not be worth the wait, I hope it at least whets your appetite for more of my work. However, it may be the only one for a little while because I have exams coming up and they're my finals. After that, I leave school and, hopefully, enter the world of university…but exams first. So here's my story; it's somewhat 003-centric. Enjoy and review.

XOXOXO

Magical Lullaby 

A soft cry reached her sensitive ears and she immediately rose from her bed and made her way to the cot, the source of the cry. She reached inside and carefully lifted out the baby inside. She cradled him and heard him let out a little sigh. She smiled, more to herself than anything else, and carried him to her bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she glanced at her bedside alarm clock. 3:37. The sun wouldn't be up for another two and a half, maybe three, hours at least, and she hadn't slept a wink all night. For some reason, she just couldn't get to sleep.

'I'm sorry, 003. Did I wake you?'

The so-addressed girl looked down at the baby in her arms. She cradled him to her and buried her face in his silvery hair.

"No, 001. It's okay, you didn't. I was awake for a while."

'Oh.' The baby snuggled closer. 'I had a nightmare.'

003 raised her golden head. "Well, it's over now. Do you want to talk about it?"

001 sighed. 'No, it's okay. I'm fine now…' He yawned.

003 gently stroked his hair and went over to her rocking chair, which stood by the window. It was an old-fashioned French rocker she had found at an antique furniture shop and had immediately bought. It reminded her so much of home, of her former life, when she was still just Françoise Arnoul, aspiring ballerina.

She opened the window, and the cold air rushed into the room, making her shiver. She leaned back into her chair and rocked back and forth, conscious of the bundle in her arms settling down with a contented sigh. She closed her eyes and began to hum softly, thinking.

She'd had everything she had wanted, a bright career and the most wonderful brother to share her success and glory with. At the rate she'd been going, she would have become the most famous ballerina in all of France in less than 2 years. Dancing was her passion, the one thing truly worth living for, aside from Jean-Paul. Then, Black Ghost had come and her whole world shattered and the pieces slipped through her fingers. Her career went down the drain and with it, every dream she'd ever held dear. All her life, she'd thought that she was incapable of hatred, that is, until now. The one and only thing she hated was Black Ghost; she hated him for all he had done to her. It was enough that he'd torn her life apart, but it was too much that he'd stabbed her with the broken bits. He'd kidnapped her, turned her into a cyborg, frozen her.

Sixty years had passed. Her brother had passed on and all her friends would be almost eighty years old now, that is, the ones who were still alive. The war had ended, and from its ashes, a new France had grown. So many changes had taken place and through it all she had remained, preserved is peaceful slumber, unaware that anything was taking place.

Finally, she was taken out of cryogenic stasis and introduced to seven other cyborgs, just like her, and yet so different. Each had come from a different place, had a different past, a different heritage. And each had been given a different ability. Her own senses had been enhanced, giving her incredible powers of sight and hearing. Of all the cyborgs, she was the one who had remained most human. She had retained almost all of her biological parts, making her the weakest, but at the same time, the strongest of the cyborgs.

Then, came 009, and with him, came everything else. The cyborgs rebelled, making them enemies and threats in the eyes of Black Ghost. Since then, their lives were dictated by the need to defeat Black Ghost once and for all, and gain the freedom they fought for so hard and so long.

'003?'

Startled, she looked down at the speaker. "001! I thought you were sleeping! What is it?"

The baby met her eyes. 'You were humming…"

"Oh! I'm so sorry! How silly of me, I shouldn't have. I've kept you awake, haven't I? I'll stop now, then you can sleep."

'No, it's not that. I've heard you hum it so many times. It sounds nice. What is it? Does it have words?"

003 blushed slightly because of her reaction, but then she smiled. "It's a lullaby," she replied, "Jean used to sing it to me when I was a child. I'll sing it for you, shall I?"

001 smiled. 'Yes, please.'

003 closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them, rested her emerald gaze on the baby, and began to sing.

"Tais-toi, mon petit chéri.

Il n'y aura plus réveiller.

Le soleil est renter chez lui pour dormir,

Et maintenant, il faut que tu dormes aussi.

Tais-toi, mon petit chéri.

Maintenant est l'heure pour rêver.

La lune s'est montrée pour jouer,

Mais ne jouer pas avec toi.

Les étoiles sont brillantes,

La nuit est tranquille,

Tous les oiseaux se reposent.

Ferme les yeux, mon petit enfant.

Pose ta tête sur ton oreiller.

Endort et rêve.

Quand le matin vient,

Tu peux réveiller avec le soleil

Mais maintenant, endort et rêve."

The singing and rocking soon lulled the baby to sleep and his surrogate mother looked upon her charge tenderly. She stroked his hair gently and got to her feet, carefully so as not to disturb him. Almost reluctantly, she laid him in his crib where he rolled over onto his side, curled up and went on sleeping. She sighed and covered him up, tucking his blanket like only a true mother could. It was only then that she became aware of a presence in her room and looked up, knowing immediately who it was without having to watch.

"009! How did you…? When did you…? I didn't hear you come in!" she finished, somewhat pathetically.

"Didn't you really?" the brunette replied. He walked over to 003 and the crib. He looked down at the sleeping 001. "It's only when he's like this that I remember he's only a baby."

He transferred his gaze to the girl standing next to him and held her elbow gently. He spun her around until her back was to him, wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head forward to rest his chin on her shoulder. 003 closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace.

"That song you were singing," he whispered into her eye, "what was it?"

"A lullaby," she whispered back. "My brother used to sing it to me when I was a little girl."

"It's beautiful, and made even more so by your lovely voice."

003 felt a slight blush creep to her cheeks and felt 009 smile against ear. "Thank you," she said softly. She took a deep breath and relaxed further, feeling his arms tighten around her, bringing her closer to their owner.

"It's one of the things I remember most about my childhood. I used to have trouble falling asleep. Sometimes, I'd lie awake in bed for hours and when I did fall asleep, I never slept well, even having nightmares, and I'd always wake up a lot more tired than I was the night before. Then, Jean wrote that song. I remember that the very first time he sang it; I went right to sleep without any trouble at all. After that, he would sing it every night and I would fall asleep right away, almost like there was magic in every note that fell from his lips."

"Hmmm. Maybe there was."

003 opened her eyes and turned to face 009, wearing a quizzical expression. He was looking down at her tenderly.

"I mean, who knows? Maybe magic exists and is all around us. You'll never really know whether it's real or not, but it explains a lot of things that would otherwise remain unexplained. I believe in magic. There's magic in all of us, performing small, beautiful miracles wherever it can. There's magic everywhere. Every time a flower blooms, or a snowflake falls, there's something magical in its beauty. Whenever you see a sunrise or a sunset, it mesmerizes you, that's magic. The mere fact that we can go on fighting Black Ghost with all odds stacked up against us, that's magic too."

"That's not magic. We're spurred on by a cause. We've all been hurt and wronged by Black Ghost and we hate him for taking away our lives."

He gently laid his index finger on her lips, ending her words. "We each have our past, but our presents and our futures are all interconnected. We depend on each other. We have faith and in ourselves and in each other, despite everything. We act as one unbreakable unit, as a family. That's the magic of it."

003 looked into his eyes as he spoke and as she gazed into them, she began to feel it. There was magic in the wind that swirled about them through the open window, magic in the stars that glittered in the velvety night sky, magic in the soft breathing that issued from 001, magic in the outpouring of love pure and true between 003 and 009.

"There's magic in everything. That lullaby was just one way in which it exposed itself."

She smiled up at him and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, finding solace and comfort in its regularity and rhythm. She felt his arms as he lifted her, carried her to her bed, laid her on it and covered her with the blankets.

"It's late. Get some sleep now." With that, he kissed her lips gently. 003 closed her eyes and listened to him closing the window and then the door as he left her room pausing only to look at her.

Black Ghost was merely a temporary obstacle in their paths. It was true that he had destroyed their lives, but it was also true that he had given them new ones and had brought 003 to the love of her life. Everything had a purpose, no matter how hard the troubles came; it was for a reason, all towards a better end. That was the magic of life.

XOXOXO

**A/N: **Well how was it? Review and tell me. I made up the lullaby, in case you were wondering and translated it the old-fashioned way – using my own knowledge and memory and a French dictionary lol. The translation is as follows:

_Hush, my little darling._

_There'll be no more waking,_

_The sun has gone back home to sleep,_

_And now, so must you._

_Hush, my little darling._

_Now's the time for dreaming._

_The moon has come out to play,_

_But not to play with you._

_The stars are shining,_

_The night is still,_

_The birds are all resting._

_Close your eyes, my little child._

_Lay your head upon your pillow._

_Go to sleep and dream._

_When morning comes,_

_You can wake with the sun_

_But now, go to sleep and dream._

Well, unfortunately, that might be it for a little while:( But I will return. My love to you all. If you don't hear from me for Christmas, know that I am alive, just buried beneath books. Just in case, Merry Christmas to everyone on FF. I'll be seeing you all. Remember to review. 'Till we meet again…

-_Giselle_-


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